Connecting consumers with service providers

ABSTRACT

A request to generate a medical service team for a particular consumer of medical services is received and records including names of one or more medical service providers associated with providing a medical service to the consumer of medical services are retrieved from a data repository. An electronic invitation to join the medical service team associated with providing medical services to the consumer of medical services is sent and responses to the invitation are received. A listing of medical service team members is generated from the responses and the records.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation and claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/633,115, filed on Dec. 8,2009, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to provisional U.S.Patent Application 61/223,901, filed on Jul. 8, 2009, the entirecontents of each which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention is directed to connecting consumers with serviceproviders.

Systems have been developed to connect consumers and their providersover the Internet and the World Wide Web. Some systems use e-mailmessaging and web-based forms to increase the level of connectivitybetween a member of a health plan and his assigned health care provider.The consumer sends an e-mail or goes to a website that generates andsends a message (typically an e-mail or an e-mail type message) to alocal provider.

These types of services have been broadly referred to as “e-visits.”While generally viewed as an addition to the spectrum of services thatmay be desired by consumers, the benefits of such services are notclear. One of the concerns associated with offering additionalcommunication channels, such as e-mail, is that it can result in overconsumption of services, rather than provide for better coordination.

Another system is a brokerage type of system as described in my issuedU.S. Pat. No. 7,590,550, which is incorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY

In general, in one aspect, a request to generate a medical service teamfor a particular consumer of medical services is received and recordsincluding names of one or more medical service providers associated withproviding a medical service to the consumer of medical services areretrieved from a data repository. An electronic invitation to join themedical service team associated with providing medical services to theconsumer of medical services is sent and responses to the invitation arereceived. A listing of medical service team members is generated fromthe responses and the records.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Aninstruction to send the electronic invitation to one or more selectedservice providers is received from one of the medical service teammembers. The listing of medical service team members is updated withnames of one or more service providers accepting the electronicinvitation. A message including names of one or more other medicalservice team members to be removed from the listing of medical serviceteam members is received from one of the medical service team membersand the received names of the one or more other medical service teammembers are removed from the listing of medical service team members.

Implementations may also include one or more of the following features.Status data regarding present availability of the one or more medicalservice providers on the listing of medical service team members isretrieved from a data repository and a user interface is generated. Theuser interface renders one or more visual representations of the one ormore medical service providers with an indication of the presentavailability status of the one or more medical service providersjuxtaposed to the one or more visual representations. Medical specialtydata is also retrieved from the data repository, with the medicalspecialty data including the one or more medical service providers onthe listing of medical service team members. A user interface isgenerated that renders one or more visual representations of the one ormore medical service providers with medical specialty data of themedical service providers juxtaposed to the one or more visualrepresentations. A real-time communication channel is establishedbetween one of the medical service team members and one or more other,different medical service teams members. A real-time communicationchannel is established between one or more of the medical service teammembers and the consumer of medical services.

In general, in one aspect, a computer-implemented method comprisesgenerating by a computer a first graphical user interface, the firstgraphical user interface when displayed on a display device, rendering:a first visual representation corresponding to at least one or moremedical service providers associated with a consumer's medical serviceteam; a second visual representation corresponding to one or more priorcommunications between a consumer of services and the one or moremedical service providers associated with the consumer's medical serviceteam; and a first link that when selected causes a computing deviceassociated with the display device on which the first graphical userinterface is rendered to send a message to a brokerage system toestablish a real-time communication channel between one of the one ormore medical service providers associated with the consumer's medicalservice team and another, different one of the one or more medicalservice providers associated with the consumer's medical service team.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Avisual representation of a timeline indicating, for each of thecommunications between the consumer of services and a medical serviceprovider, a date of the communication. A third visual representationcorresponding to a list of topics posted to a virtual discussion boardby one or more of the medical service providers associated with theconsumer's medical service team; and a second link that when selectedcauses the display device to display a second, different graphical userinterface including a text box in which a medical service providerenters a topic for discussion.

Implementations may also include one or more of the following features.A fourth visual representation corresponding to a current availabilityof the one or more medical service providers associated with theconsumer's medical service team; and a fifth visual representationincluding data indicative of medical conditions and medicationsassociated with the consumer of services. A second link that whenselected causes the display device to display a second, differentgraphical user interface including health history information associatedwith the consumer of services; and a third link that when selectedcauses the display device to display a third, different graphical userinterface including provider decision support information.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer-based brokerage system.

FIGS. 2, 4, 6A, 6B, 7, 8 and 9 are screen images of graphical userinterfaces generated by the brokerage system.

FIGS. 3, 5 and 10 are flow charts of processes executed in the brokeragesystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Through a brokerage system, a consumer of services engages in aconsultation with a service provider, as described in my issued U.S.Pat. No. 7,590,550. Additionally, through the brokerage system, aservice provider accesses and views information of other serviceproviders associated with the brokerage system.

Using the brokerage system and its associated services, a serviceprovider assembles a medical services team (referred to herein as a“medical home team”), including a team of one or more other serviceproviders collaborating together to provide a consumer (e.g., a patient)with coordinated health care. The medical home team shares clinicalinformation with each other regarding a consumer, views updates to aconsumer's health record and initiates consultations with each other orother service providers not otherwise part of the medical home team. Theservice provider who assembles the medical home team is referred to asthe medical home manager. The other service providers, who were invitedby the medical home manager to join the medical home team, are referredto as medical home team members.

Generation of a Medical Home Team

Referring to FIG. 1, a brokerage system 10 to provide a brokerageservice to connect consumers of services 12 with providers of services14 is shown. The system 10 includes a computerized system or server 16for making connections between consumers 12, at client systems 18, andservice providers 14, at client systems 20, over a network 22, e.g., theInternet or other types of networks. The computerized system 16 operatesas a service running on a web server 24.

The computerized system 16 includes an availability or presence trackingmodule 26 for tracking the availability of the service providers 14. Thecomputerized system 16 includes an access control facility 28, whichmanages and controls whether a given consumer 12 has access to thesystem 16 and what level or scope of access to the features, functions,and services is provided by the system 16. The computerized system 16also includes one or more processes such as a scheduling module 30. Alsoincluded in the computerized system 16 is a process 32 that allows aservice provider 14 to generate a medical home team, as described inmore detail below. The system 16 accesses one or more databases 34. Thecomponents of the system 16 and the web server 24 are integrated ordistributed in various combinations as is commonly known in the art.

Using the system 10, a consumer 12 communicates with a provider 14. Theconsumers 12 and providers 14 connect to the computerized system 16through a website or other interface on the web server 24 using clientdevices 18 and 20, respectively. Client devices 18 and 20 include anycombination of, e.g., personal digital assistants, land-line telephones,cell phones, computer systems, media-player-type devices, and so forth.The client devices 18 and 20 enable the consumers 12 to input andreceive information as well as to communicate via video, audio, and/ortext with the providers 14.

Referring to FIG. 2, a graphical user interface 40, generated throughthe brokerage system 10 and displayed for a service provider 14 on aservice provider system 20, includes a consumer's profile 42 and a link44. Selection of the link 44 allows a service provider 14 to generate amedical home team. The brokerage system 10 lists the service provider 14who selects the link 44 as the medical home manager. Selection of link44 results in sending of a message or data from the service provider'ssystem 20 to the server 16 in the brokerage system 10 to generate amedical home team.

Referring to FIG. 3, generation 50 of a medical home team is shown. Thebrokerage system 10 receives 52 a message from a service provider 14 togenerate a medical home team. The brokerage system 10 determines 54whether a medical home team already exists. If a medical home teamalready exists, a message is displayed 56 to the service provider 14indicating that a medical home team already exists. If the brokeragesystem 10 determines that a medical home team does not already exist,then a graphical user interface is displayed 58 that includes the termsand conditions associated with generating a medical home team andprompts the service provider 14 to affirm the service provider's requestto generate a medical home team. Upon the service provider's affirmationof the request to generate a medical home team, a secure message is sent60 to the consumer's electronic mail inbox associated with the brokeragesystem 10.

The consumer 12 logs 62 into the brokerage system 10 and accesses thesecure message including the request to generate a medical home team byclicking 64 on a link associated with the secure message. The consumer12 reviews 66 the details of the request to generate a medical hometeam, including the name of the service provider 14 initiating therequest, and decides 68 whether to accept or decline the request. If theconsumer 12 declines the request, the brokerage system 10 sends 74 asecure message to the service provider 14 initiating the request. Themessage indicates that the consumer 12 has declined the request togenerate a medical home team.

If the consumer 12 accepts the request to generate a medical home team,the service provider 14 is added 70 to the consumer's contact list ofservice providers and the brokerage system 10 sets 72 the serviceprovider 14 making the request as the medical home manager. Thebrokerage system 10 sends 74 a secure message, indicating the consumer'sacceptance of the request to generate the medical home team, to theservice provider 14 initiating the request.

Referring to FIG. 4, the brokerage system 10 generates a graphical userinterface 80 that includes details and links associated with aconsumer's medical home team. The consumer's original profile graphicaluser interface 40 (FIG. 2) is updated, as shown, with text 82 indicatingthat the consumer 12 is associated with a medical home team. Thegraphical user interface 80 includes the name 84 of the consumer 12 forwhich the medical home team information is displayed. Section 86 of thegraphical user interface 80 visually highlights the name of the medicalhome manager.

Section 88 of the graphical user interface 80 includes a list ofsupplemental information, including recent conditions. Section 90 of thegraphical user interface 80 includes a list of recent medicationsassociated with the consumer 12. The graphical user interface 80 alsoincludes a section (not shown) through which a medical home team memberadds notes regarding the consumer 12 and uploads files, such as medicalhistory charts, associated with the consumer 12. When adding notes orfiles, the graphical user interface displays a prompt box in which themedical home team member specifies if the added notes and files areaccessible and viewable by the consumer 12.

Tab or link 92 displays information associated with the consumer'smedical home, as discussed in further detail below. Tab or link 94, whenselected, displays information about the consumer's medical home team,as discussed in further detail below with regards to FIG. 9. Tab or link96, when selected, displays information associated with a consumer'shealth history, as described in my issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,590,550. Tabor link 98, when selected, displays decision support information, asdescribed in my co-pending provisional Application No. 61/179,333, filedon May 18, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

The graphical user interface 80 includes a “P2P Consultation” link 100,selection of which initiates the establishment of a provider-to-providerconsultation, as described in my co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/614,842 filed on Nov. 9, 2009, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Through the “conference call” link 102, medical home team membersinitiate (“initiating medical home team member(s)”) conference callswith other medical home team members, as discussed in further detailbelow, as discussed un further detail below with regards to FIG. 7.

Through a link 104 (e.g., the “secure message” link) medical home teammembers send secure messages to other medical home team members. Thesend secure message functionality allows a medical home team member tosend a secure message to an individual medical home team member or tomultiple medical home team members, such as all the service providers 14included in the medical home team.

The graphical user interface 80 also includes a “suggest follow-up” link106. By selecting the link 106, a medical home team member addsfollow-up recommendations to a consumer's agenda, which is described inmy issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,590,550, or a list of items for the consumer12 to perform. The types of follow-up actions added to a consumer'sagenda or list include scheduling or engaging in a communication with aspecific medical home team member, scheduling or engaging in acommunication with a service provider 14 who is not a member of theconsumer's medical home team, and participating in medical assessments,questionnaires and medical trackers to monitor and assess a consumer'shealth, such as a consumer's hemoglobin levels.

The medical home manager manages the medical home team by adding serviceproviders 14 to the medical home team and removing service providers 14from the medical home team. Graphical user interface 80 includes link108, selection of which enables the medical home manager to add aservice provider 14 to the medical home team. If the consumer's primarycare physician is enrolled in the brokerage system 10, he/she isautomatically added to the medical home team.

Graphical user interface 80 also includes link 110, selection of whichenables the medical home manager to remove a service provider 14 fromthe medical home team. The brokerage system 10 generates a message andsends the message to the removed service provider 14 alerting theservice provider 14 of the removal from the consumer's medical hometeam. Additionally, the brokerage system 10 generates a message andsends the message to the consumer 12 alerting the consumer 12 of theremoval of the service provider 14 from the consumer's medical hometeam. Links 108, 110 displayed on the graphical user interface 80 aredisplayed for the medical home manager. Alternatively, links 108, 110displayed on the graphical user interface 80 are displayed for themedical home manager and the medical home team members.

Still referring to FIG. 4, the graphical user interface 80 includes atimeline list 132 of the consumer's communications with the consumer'smedical home team. A dropdown list 112 allows the medical home teammember to select the time period, such as three months or twelve months,for which a consumer's communications are displayed. The timeline list132 displays a visual representation 116, 118, 120 of the consumer'scommunications occurring during the selected time period. The displayeddetails include the name 122 and specialty 124 of the medical home teammember engaging in the communication, the date 126 of the communication,and topics 128 discussed during the communication. The visualrepresentation 116, 118, 120 of the consumer's communications is a link,selection of which causes another graphical user interface to displayadditional details, including topics discussed and diagnoses, of thecommunication between the medical home team member and the consumer 12.The timeline list 132 also includes links 114, 130, selection of whichcauses the time frame of the timeline list 132 to shift forwards orbackwards, such as by forward or backward one month, and thus generate anew time frame and display a visual representation of the communicationsthat occurred during the new time frame.

The graphical user interface 80 also includes a list 134 of active andinvited medical home team members 136 a-136 e. A link is associated witheach of the medical home team members 136 a-136 e, selection of whichcauses another graphical user interface to be displayed that includes,for the selected medical home team member, the medical home teammember's name, specialty, patient star rating, gender, location, boardcertification, professional affiliations and education. For each medicalhome member 136 a-136 e, the current status 138 a-138 e, including busy,offline or available, of the medical home team member 136 a-136 e isdisplayed in graphical user interface 80. For the medical home teammembers 136 a, 136 b currently available, the medical home manager 136 c(or medical home team member 136 a-136 e) is provided with the option ofinitiating a consultation with the available medical team member byselecting a link, including the “Connect” link 138 a, 138 b.

The discussion board section 140 of the graphical user interface 80facilitates the medical home team members' 136 a-136 e discussion of andcollaboration regarding a consumer 12. Through the selection of link142, another graphical user interface (not shown) is displayed includingtextboxes in which a medical home team member 136 a-136 e posts a newitem, such as a question or a diagnosis concerning the consumer 12, inthe discussion board section 140 of the graphical user interface 80. Thediscussion board section 140 also includes visual representations 146,150, 154 of prior postings made by medical home team members 136 a-136 ein the discussion board section 140. When a posting is added to thediscussion board section 140, the brokerage system 10 captures anddisplays the “Date/Time Added” information and “Added by User”information and displays this information in the discussion boardsection 140 of the graphical user interface 80. Additionally, eachposting includes the name and area of specialty 144, 148, 152 of themedical home team member 136 a-136 e making the posting. When a newmessage is added, the medical home team members 136 a-136 e, includingthe medical home manager 136 c, receive a secure message indicating thata new posting has been made in the discussion board section 140.

The graphical user interface 80 may also include links or buttons (notshown) allowing the medical home manager to appoint a new medical homemanager from the medical home team members 136 a-136 e. When the medicalhome manager 136 c appoints a medical home team member 136 a-136 e to bethe new medical home manager, a message is sent to the appointed medicalhome team member 136 a-136 e, informing the medical home team member 136a-136 e of the appointment.

The graphical user interface 80 may include a link (not shown) throughwhich a medical home team member 136 a-136 e exports or prints the list134 of providers in the consumer's medical home team.

The brokerage system 10 also generates a graphical user interfacethrough which medical home team members 136 a-136 e generate and editdistribution lists for members of the medical home team, with listsbeing selectable from a list of recipients when composing a securemessage or replying to a secure message. The medical home team members136 a-136 e communicate with one another in various other ways,including any combination of video conferencing, text chatting andtalking to one another directly over a landline or voice-over internetprotocol telephone connection facilitated and established through thebrokerage system 10, as described in my co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/105,784, published as “US-2009-0262919-A1,” andincorporated herein by reference.

Graphical user interface 80 also includes a section with a textbox(“target textbox”) (now shown) that is editable, in which a medical hometeam member 136 a-136 e sets target goals for the consumer 12. Eachtarget textbox is associated with another text box (“status text box”),in which a medical home team member 136 a-136 e, including the medicalhome manager 136 c, enters the status, such as “attained” or“incomplete,” of each target goal. When a target goal is achieved, asindicated by a medical home team member 136 a-136 e editing the statustext box to include “attained” text, the medical home team members 136a-136 e receive a secure message indicating successful completion of thetarget goal. A list (not shown) of the completed target goals isvisually displayed on the graphical user interface 80.

Referring to FIG. 5, the brokerage system 10 adds 160 a service provider14 to the medical home team, as follows. The medical home manger clicks162 on the “add team member” link 108 (FIG. 4) and the brokerage system10 generates and renders a graphical user interface that allows themedical home manager to search 164 and select a service provider 14 toadd to the medical home team. The medical home manager searches forservice providers 14 to add to the medical home team, based on serviceprovider name, service provider specialty or service provider area ofpractice.

The service provider 14 selected by the medical home manager to join themedical home team is sent 166 a secure message including an invitationto join the medical home team. The message can include a note that isadded by the medical home manager that includes an explanation of whythe medical home manager would like the service provider to join themedical home team. The invited service provider 14 accesses the securemessage by logging 168 into the brokerage system 10 and clicking 170 ona link associated with the secure message, selection of the link causingthe secure message to be displayed on a display device. The serviceprovider 14 reviews 172 the secure message, including the invitation 208(FIG. 6A) and determines 174 whether to accept or decline the invitationto join the medical home.

If the service provider 14 accepts the invitation, such as by selectingbutton 200 (FIG. 6A), the service provider 14 is added 176 to theconsumer's contact list of service providers and the brokerage system 10adds 178 the service provider 14 to the list 134 of medical home teammembers 136 a-136 e. A message is sent 180 to the medical home managerinforming the medical home manager of the service provider's acceptanceof the invitation. Additionally, the consumer 12 receives a securemessage alerting the consumer 12 that the service provider 14 was addedto the consumer's medical home team. If the service provider 14 declinesthe invitation, such as by selecting button 202 (FIG. 6A), a message issent 180 to the medical home manager informing the medical home managerthat the service provider 14 has declined the invitation.

Referring to FIG. 6A, a graphical user interface 190 displays aninvitations tab 192. The number of unread invitations 194 is displayedin the invitations tab 192. The invitations tab 192 also includes links196, 198 associated with a service provider's invitations 208 to join amedical home team. By selecting one of the links 196, 198, theinvitation 208 to join the medical home team is displayed by a displaydevice, including client device 20 (FIG. 1).

The invitation 208 includes the gender 204 and age 206 of the consumer12, along with a note 210 from the medical home manager. The graphicaluser interface 190 also includes an “accept” button 200, selection ofwhich sends a message to the brokerage system 10 indicating that theservice provider 14 accepts the invitation to join the medical hometeam. When accepting an invitation, the service provider 14 entershis/her initials certifying that a clinical relationship is being formedbetween the service provider 14 and the consumer 12. The graphical userinterface 190 also includes a “decline” button 202, selection of whichsends a message to the brokerage system 10 indicating that the serviceprovider 14 declines the invitation to join the medical home team. Whendeclining an invitation, a text box (not shown) is displayed in whichthe service provider 14 enters additional information pertaining to whythe invitation was declined.

Referring to FIG. 6B, another graphical user interface 216 displays amessage center section 218, including the number of unread invitations220.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a graphical user interface 230 is generatedwhen a medical home team member 136 a-136 e selects the conference calllink 102 in FIG. 4. The initiating medical home team member selects oneor more other medical home team members with whom to have a conferencecall. When the conference call is initiated, an intelligent voiceresponse (“IVR”) system initiates an outdial to the selected medicalhome team members. The IVR system indicates that this is a conferencerequest from the initiating medical home team member on behalf of theconsumer 12. The graphical user interface 230 includes a dialogue box232 including details relating to a status of the conference call. Thedialogue box 232 includes the names 234, 238, 242, 246 of the medicalhome team members 136 a-136 e requested to join the conference call bythe initiating medical home team member 136 a-136 e. The dialogue box232 also includes each medical home team member's progress and status injoining the conference call, including connected 236, 240, unavailable244 and calling 248. Through selection of link 250, the initiatingmedical home team member 136 a-136 e cancels the conference call.

Referring to FIG. 8, a graphical user interface 260 includes a list 262of a service provider's consumers 12. A relationship field 264,associated with each consumer 12, indicates the service provider'srelationship, including medical home manager 266 and medical home teammember 268, with the consumer 12. When a service provider 14 is added toa medical home team for a consumer 12, for example by accepting aninvitation 208 (FIG. 6A) to join a medical home team, the brokeragesystem 10 updates the list 262 with the name of the consumer 12 forwhich the service provider 14 has been added to the consumer's medicalhome team and updates the relationship field 264 to indicate that theservice provider 14 is a medical home team member 268 of the consumer'smedical home team. When a service provider generates 52 (FIG. 3) amedical home team for a consumer 12, the relationship field 264associated with the consumer 12 is updated to display in the graphicaluser interface 260 that the service provider 14 is the consumer'smedical home manager 266.

Referring to FIG. 9, a graphical user interface 274 is generated by thebrokerage system 10 for display on a display device 18, 20. Thegraphical user interface 274 includes a visual representation of themedical home team members 276, 280, 282, 286, 288 associated with theconsumer's medical home team. For each of the medical home team members276, 280, 282, 286, 288, a status, including “available” 292 and “busy”294, of the medical home team member 276, 280, 282, 286, 288 isdisplayed. For the available 292 medical home team members 276, 280,282, 286, buttons 278, 284 are generated and displayed, selection ofwhich initiates a communication between the consumer 12 and theavailable medical home team members 276, 280, 282, 286 associated withthe selected button. Selection of button 290 places the consumer 12 in avirtual waiting room or queue until the medical home team member 286,290 is available to engage in a communication with the consumer 12.

Referring to FIG. 10, various processes 300 are executed by thebrokerage system 10 in generating the graphical user interface 274 (FIG.9). The brokerage system 10 accesses 302 a data repository storing namesof the medical home team members 136 a-136 e or 276, 280, 282, 286, 288in a consumer's medical home team. The brokerage system 10 queries 304the data repository for a list of the medical home team members 136a-136 e (FIG. 4) and 276, 280, 282, 286, 288 (FIG. 9) associated withthe consumer's medical home team. The brokerage system 10 receives 306from the data repository a list of medical home team members 136 a-136 eand/or 276, 280, 282, 286, 288, included in the consumer's medical hometeam. Based on this list, the brokerage system 10 generates thegraphical user interfaces 80 (FIG. 4) and/or 274 (FIG. 9) that displaysa visual representation of the consumer's medical home team members 136c-136 e and/or 276, 280, 282, 286, 288, respectively.

In generating graphical user interface 80, the brokerage system 10 alsoqueries the database for supplemental information associated with theconsumer of services 12, the name of the consumer's medical homemanager, a list of prior communications the consumer 12 has engaged inwith the consumer's medical home team members 136 a-136 e and a list ofthe prior postings made by medical home team members in the discussionboard section 140 of the graphical user interface 80. Based on thisinformation, the brokerage system 10 generates lists 88, 90 ofsupplemental information, the area 86 of the graphical user interface 80which includes the name of the medical home manager, the timeline list132 and the discussion board section 140 of the graphical user interface80.

The medical home graphical user interface, including the graphical userinterface 80, is generated and hosted by the same computing devices thathost the brokerage system 10, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,590,550.The medical home graphical user interface is also generated and hostedby computing devices that are separate from the machines that host thebrokerage system 10. The medical home graphical user interface is hostedon one computing device or more than one computing device in adistributed environment. The computing devices that host the medicalhome graphical user interface are connected to a data repository 34 thatstores medical information for a consumer of medical services 12. Themedical information includes the consumer's attending physicians andmedical doctors, medical records, and medical prescriptions. Whengenerating the medical home graphical user interface, the computingdevices access and query the data repository for a consumer's medicalinformation.

Embodiments can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or incomputer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations thereof.Apparatus of the invention can be implemented in a computer programproduct tangibly embodied or stored in a machine-readable storage devicefor execution by a programmable processor; and method actions can beperformed by a programmable processor executing a program ofinstructions to perform functions of the invention by operating on inputdata and generating output. The invention can be implementedadvantageously in one or more computer programs that are executable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processorcoupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data andinstructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, andat least one output device. Each computer program can be implemented ina high-level procedural or object oriented programming language, or inassembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the languagecan be a compiled or interpreted language.

Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and specialpurpose microprocessors. Generally, a processor will receiveinstructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random accessmemory. Generally, a computer will include one or more mass storagedevices for storing data files; such devices include magnetic disks,such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks;and optical disks. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodyingcomputer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatilememory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, suchas EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCD_ROM disks. Any of the foregoing can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).

Other embodiments are within the scope and spirit of the descriptionclaims. In one example, the brokerage system 10 is used to generate agraphical user interface through which various types of serviceproviders 14, including legal service providers (e.g., attorneys andparalegals) and financial service providers (e.g., accounts and fundmanagers), collaborate and share information pertaining to a client. Forexample, due to the nature of software, functions described above can beimplemented using software, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations.

1-31. (canceled)
 32. A computer-implemented method comprises: receiving,by a computer, a request to view information representing one or moremedical service providers who are associated with one or more attributesthat specify that the one or more medical service providers areassociated with a medical service team that provides medical services toa consumer; accessing, by the computer, a data repository that storesinformation pertaining to medical service providers, with at least aportion of the information indicative of provider availability forparticipating in a consultation; identifying, by the computer and fromthe stored information, which of the medical service providers areavailable; identifying, by the computer, an available medical serviceprovider associated with one or more attributes that specify that theavailable medical service provider is associated with the medicalservice team of the consumer; and producing information indicative ofthe available medical service provider identified.
 33. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein producing comprises:transmitting, to a device that sent the request, the informationindicative of the available medical service provider identified.
 34. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein the request is a firstrequest, and wherein the method further comprises: receiving, from adevice that sent the first request, a second request for a communicationwith the available medical service provider identified.
 35. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 32, further comprising: causingestablishment of a communication channel between a device used byavailable medical service provider identified and a device used by theconsumer.
 36. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, furthercomprising: establishing a communication channel between a device usedby available medical service provider identified and a device used bythe consumer.
 37. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, whereinreceiving the request comprises at least one of: receiving, by thecomputer from a device associated with the consumer, the request; andreceiving, by the computer from a device associated with a serviceprovider, the request.
 38. A computer program product tangibly embodiedon a computer readable storage device, the computer program productcomprising instructions for causing a computer to perform operationscomprising: receiving a request to view information representing one ormore medical service providers who are associated with one or moreattributes that specify that the one or more medical service providersare associated with a medical service team that provides medicalservices to a consumer; accessing a data repository that storesinformation pertaining to medical service providers, with at least aportion of the information indicative of provider availability forparticipating in a consultation; identifying, from the storedinformation, which of the medical service providers are available;identifying an available medical service provider associated with one ormore attributes that specify that the available medical service provideris associated with the medical service team of the consumer; andproducing information indicative of the available medical serviceprovider identified.
 39. The computer program product of claim 38,wherein producing comprises: transmitting, to a device that sent therequest, the information indicative of the available medical serviceprovider identified.
 40. The computer program product of claim 38,wherein the request is a first request, and wherein the operationsfurther comprise: receiving, from a device that sent the first request,a second request for a communication with the available medical serviceprovider identified.
 41. The computer program product of claim 38,wherein the operations further comprise: causing establishment of acommunication channel between a device used by available medical serviceprovider identified and a device used by the consumer.
 42. The computerprogram product of claim 38, wherein the operations further comprise:establishing a communication channel between a device used by availablemedical service provider identified and a device used by the consumer.43. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein receiving therequest comprises at least one of: receiving, by the computer from adevice associated with the consumer, the request; and receiving, by thecomputer from a device associated with a service provider, the request.44. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a computer program productresiding on a computer readable medium, the computer program productcomprising instructions for causing the processor to perform operationscomprising: receiving a request to view information representing one ormore medical service providers who are associated with one or moreattributes that specify that the one or more medical service providersare associated with a medical service team that provides medicalservices to a consumer; accessing a data repository that storesinformation pertaining to medical service providers, with at least aportion of the information indicative of provider availability forparticipating in a consultation; identifying, from the storedinformation, which of the medical service providers are available;identifying an available medical service provider associated with one ormore attributes that specify that the available medical service provideris associated with the medical service team of the consumer; andproducing information indicative of the available medical serviceprovider identified.
 45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein producingcomprises: transmitting, to a device that sent the request, theinformation indicative of the available medical service provideridentified.
 46. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the request is afirst request, and wherein the operations further comprise: receiving,from a device that sent the first request, a second request for acommunication with the available medical service provider identified.47. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the operations further comprise:causing establishment of a communication channel between a device usedby available medical service provider identified and a device used bythe consumer.
 48. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: establishing a communication channel between a deviceused by available medical service provider identified and a device usedby the consumer.
 49. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein receiving therequest comprises at least one of: receiving, by the computer from adevice associated with the consumer, the request; and receiving, by thecomputer from a device associated with a service provider, the request.